TRIPOLITANIA’S RETURN TO ITALY SURPRISE TO NEW ZEALANDERS

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXVI, Issue 22948, 17 May 1949, Page 4

TRIPOLITANIA’S RETURN TO ITALY SURPRISE TO NEW ZEALANDERS

Britain’s proposal to hand back to Italy, under a mandate, the government of Tripclitania will come somewhat as a surprise to the many New Zealand soldiers who are well acquainted with that land on the shores of North Africa, for the stori.es that were told them of the ruthlessness of the Italians in their efforts to subjugate the Arabs did not make pleasant hearing, and the sympathies of the troops were all with the Arabs.

Particularly revolting was the tale of the a!tempted quelling of one unruly tribe whose chief was invited to a peace talk by Governor Balboa.

which runs without license in such oriental cities.

In 1911 the Italians acquired a foothold on the shores.of Tripolitania but the fierce resistance of the Turks and Arabs made their residence there precarious, until after tiie Treaty of Ouchy in 1912 when Turkey ceded certain portions which enabled them to become firmly established. Their troubles were not over and it was not until 1924 after a three years’ intensive campaign that they occupied the whole country. Spent Lot of Money

When the parley broke down the Governor returned the chief to his tribe by aeroplane and had him thrown out of the plane over the tribal village as an example to his people of what would happen to them if they did not come to heel. Arab Revolt Net SurprisingIt is, therefore, not surprising that th.e Arabs have immediately commenced a revolt in the city of Tripoli against the British, who at present, are custodians in Tripolitania and another sore spot has developed on the surface of this troubled world. Tripolitania has an area of 347,500 square miles and a population of 550,000 of which 18,000 were Italians at the outbreak of the last war. The country is mostly desert dotted with oases, and it slopes gradually from the coast to the sharply defined edge of the desert plateau. This plateau rises very steeply to about 1950 feet and varies in distance from the coast by from 37 to 75 miles.

The Italians spent a lot of money in colonising the country with considerable success, but the life of the colonists was precarious for they lived in constant fear of marauding raids by fierce Arab and Turkish brigands, who robbed and murdered with great relish, and after doing all the damage they could would vanish into the wastes of the desert where their location and punishment was always difficult. The advent of the aeroplane, however, gave the Italians an immense advantage in tracking down and punishing raiders and by 1939 a fairly satisfactory peace had been established throughout the land. They made Tripoli the centre of their colonial administration and built many fine buildings and hotels. The palace of the Administrator was a particularly fine edifice as one New Zealand brigadier found when he commandeered it for his headquarters. The Italians built rip the productivity of the country by settlement schemes, bringing into cultivation by irrigation

The main township and fort of the area is Tripoli with a present-day population of about 65,000 people of which some 52,000 are natives—Berbers, Arabs Moors, Jews, Fezzanese, Sudanese, Negroes. The balance are Italians,

Maltese and Greeks. It has been described as one of the main gates to the interior of Africa and its population as cosmopolitan as that of Cairo. Ever since its foundation in the Bth century 8.C., when the Phoenicians established trading “factories” there, it has had its troubled years. Invaded m turn by the Vandals, the Byzantines, the Arabs from Egypt, the Normans, the Spaniards and the Knights of Malta it was in 1551 conquered by the Turks and for 300 years the inhabitants took part in the piracies of the other two Barbary States, Tunis and Algiers. Tripoli Practically Destroyed In an endeavour to clean up the pirates lair, Tripoli was practically destroyed by the British and French fleets in the years preceeding 1728. In 1804, following piratical acts against personnel of the United States, it was blocaded by an American naval force. Under Turkish rule it did not progress, and it remained a sleepy oriental city resting on the shores of the blue Mediterranean, its white flat-roofed houses, its domes and slender minarets of Turkish architecture nestling in palm groves. Around the city the orangecoloured sand dunes broken here and there by the tropical luxuriance of the oases, stretch away into the vastness of the desert. , „ The old town is enclosed by Spanish town walls, but the new portion which lies principally along the Strada della Marina, which leads from the Arch of Marcus Aurelius built in A.D. 163, has much of beauty and attraction. The harbour, bounded by long moles, has been artificially built and dredged to a depth of 30ft. In pre-war days it was a popular Mediterranean tourist centre in the season and the city throbbed with vivid night life and entertainment

and hard work the sandy desert country, which to men from New Zealand looked impossible and worthless. Exports of wheat, barley, olive oil, castor oil, tropical fruits, vegetables, maize, esparto and alfa grass, henna, sponges, tunny fish and silk worms grew to a value of several million pounds and Tripolitania had become a valuable possession in Italy’s economy. Inducement to Italians When the British drove the German and Italian army from Tripolitania they established an administration and gave every inducement to the Italian settlers to continue the production on their settlements. The British took over the Bank of Rome which was the financial institution with which the settlers dealt and where their mortgages, negotiated in lira, were lodged. The Briish devalued the lira to 420 to the £ and prices rose sharply. In consequence the farmers, who were selling their produce at enhanced prices, found that they could accumulate sufficient lira to pay off their mortgages. British administration was thus most popular and Italian farmers frequently expressed the hope that it would long remain. The Arabs too, under British ordinance were as contented as ever Arabs are likely to be under an infidel regime. a The outcome now that Italy Is to resume control is certain to be troubled. The Arabs will have plenty of arms and ammunition salvaged from the wastage of the battlefields and they will want to use them. This return to Italian domination will be an opportunity regarded by the Arabs as sent by Allah, and their dormant longing for raiding and pillage will assert itself, bringing tYouble to Italy and more worries to the United Nations.